Apparatus for treating placer.



G. E. J. ANDERSON.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING PLACER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9, 1912.

Patented Mar. 3, 191L 0 W HTTOKNEAA WWYLWa r 4W KW CARL E. J. ANDERSON,OF YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING PLACER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

Application filed February 9, 1912. Serial No. 676,515.

To all whom it may Conner/1.:

Be it known that I, CARL E. J. ANDERSON, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Youngstown, county of lvlahoning, and State of Ohio,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for 'lreatingPlacer, of which the following is a specification, the principle of theinvention being herein explained and the best mode in which I havecontemplated applying that principle, so as to distinguish it from otherinventions.

My invention relates to a process for separating out precious metalsfrom placer without the use of water or other liquid. It is of greatimportance to be able to accomplish the above named result without theuse of a liquid, since in many places where placer is found there is nowater to be had.

To the accomplishment of these and related ends, said invention thenconsists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claim.

The annexed drawing and the following description set forth in detailcertain mechanism adapted to carry out the invention, such disclosedmeans constituting, however, but one of various mechanical forms whichthe apparatus for the invention may take.

In said annexed drawing: Figure 1 is a side elevation of my apparatuspartially in section Fig. 2 is a section of the line 2-2 in Fig. 1; Fig.3 is a section of the line 3-3 in Fig. 1; and Fig. t is a sectionthrough the apparatus, but taken on the line ll in Fig. 2.

Various types of apparatus may of course be used in carrying out. theprocess to be hereinafter described but a simple and effective mechanismfor such purpose will now be described.

In Fig. 1 the placer is fed into feed box 1 which is controlled by meansof a door or gate 2 sliding in supports 3. The placer will flow throughthis gate and will be sucked up by air which enters through two airdoors f, one on either side of the feed box. The placer and air willthen enter a cylindrical casing 5 which is controlled at the inlet endby a gate 6 controlling an opening in a partition 7. The cylindricalcasing 5 is provided with a shallow trough 8 at the bottom which isadapted to receive a tray 9 bearing rifiies 10 and containing mercury.This tray may be removed through a door 11 at the end of the trough. Asecond door 12 is provided in the side of the casing for the purpose ofpermitting inspection and cleaning ot the casing. At the exhaust end thecasing is narrow and is attached to a conduit 13 which may be carried toany con venient depositorv as desired. Journalcd in the ends of thecasing is a shaft 14: having a pulley '15 fixedly mounted on itsexterior end and adapted to be driven by any suitable means of power.:lcariugs 16 for the shaft are provided at intervals along the casingand are of the form shown in. Fig. 9.. Upon the shaft are mounted fans17 which are adapted to create a powerful draft through the casing inthe direction of the arrows. It will be obvious that the air will travelnot only through the casing but spirally around the central shaft.

The operation of the machine will now be described. The placercontaining its precious metal deposits will be sucked in at the feed boxby means of the draft and will be forced through the casing with aspiral movement. The draft will be maintained at a speed whichsufficient to carry along the waste material. in the placer, but not theheavier precious metals. This action will be readily understood. Thegold is about eight times as heavy as the waste and the silver aboutfour times. It is a simple mattcr to so graduate the speed maintainedthat the waste material will be carried from the casing while theheavier metals are allowed to deposit in the trough. In addition to theaction of gravity on the heavier metals there is a centrifugal actiondue to the spiral course taken by the air blast caused by the rotaryaction of the fans. Tn this way'thc placer is thrown radially outwardtoward the sides of the casing, the heavier particles striking the sideswith the greater force, or rather reaching the sides, since the speed isso great that only the heaviest material will ever reach the sides ofthe casing. When the metal strikes the sides. however, it will movespirally around until it comes to the trough at the bottom of thecasing. It will here deposit and will amalgamate with the mercury whichis contained in the ritlle pans.

From the foregoing description of the operation it will be seen that noliquid is required to operate the present machine. This is considered aconsiderable advance in placer working, since many deposits which havehitherto been inaccessible for lack of Water are now opened to workingon either small or large scales. By the dou- I therefore particularlypoint out and distinctly claim as myinventionzn1 apparatus of the classdescribed, the combination of a substantially horizontally ble action ofgravity and centrifugal force a high percentage of the gold carried bythe placer is obtained, even though no Water is used in the process.

It will of course be possible to use my apparatus as an ore concentratorin Which case quartz ore Will'be crushed sufficiently to free theprecious metals'and will then be drawn in the apparatus as is theplaceralready described. The action of the apparatus as a concentrator isequally as efficient as the operation of the placer machine and I do notlimit myself to either one of such I uses.

Other modes of applying the principle of niily inventi l n may 1beemployed instead of t e one exp ained, c iange being made as regards themechanism herein disclosed, pro- CARL ANDERSON Vided the means stated bythe following Attested byclaim or the equivalent of such stated means iCHAS. E. BROWN, be employed. I I. G. MATHEWS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddresising the Commissioner of Ptentii,

Washington, D; G.

end; a trough at the bottom of said casing adapted to receive riffieboards; a valve adapted to control such opening in said casing; a shaftrotatably mounted in said casing; fans attached to said shaft andadapted when rotated thereby, to produce a draft in said casing awayfrom such opening of s'uflicient force to draw placer through suchopening and through said casing.

Signed by me this 4th 1912.

disposed casing having an opening at one day of J ahuary

